At first cast in routine ingénue roles, Leigh became a capable leading lady, especially compelling in her performances in Jet Pilot (1951), The Naked Spur (1953), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and, perhaps most memorably, in Alfred Hitchcock'sPsycho (1960). Married to actor Tony Curtis from 1951 to 1962, she was the mother of actress Jamie Lee Curtis.